Dila glanced sideways, then turned toward Fran.

"Let's go." Her voice was calm, but there was a touch of relief beneath it, like a weight finally lifted.

Fran instantly brightened up, skipping a step beside her. "'Kay, sister~!" she said with a playful grin, tail swaying behind her.

They had only taken a few steps before Dila spoke again. "Oh… by the way."

She didn't turn around. Still facing forward, she slowly raised her right hand—palm open in a quiet, backward gesture—as she walked.

"Thanks for the potions, Zib. This means a lot."

There was no pause in her steps, no glance back… but her words carried sincerity, soft but genuine.

Behind them, Zib blinked—caught off guard for a moment. Then he smiled gently, bowing slightly.

"No problem… Princess Dila." His voice was quiet, but steady. There was pride there. And maybe… a bit of admiration.

The vault lights shimmered faintly on the polished walls as Dila and Fran passed through the gate, their shadows stretching long behind them. The thick metal doors began to hum again, preparing to close.

Zib stood still the center where he was before, then one hand behind his back, the other lightly waving them off. He watched them go… until the vault swallowed the view with a slow metallic hiss.

The doors sealed shut with a final clang.

Suddenly, as the vault doors thudded behind them, a calm voice echoed from the side—

"Chill. Going somewhere?"

Zeon was leaning casually against the wall just outside the vault gate, arms crossed over his chest. That usual sly grin stretched across his face, calm and unreadable.

Dila flinched. "Ah—! You startled me..." Her eyes widened as she instinctively stepped back.

Fran jumped too, her ears perking straight up and tail puffing with alarm. "Myaah?!" Her hands clenched near her chest, eyes wide like a kitten caught mid-mischief. "Don't sneak up like that!"

Zeon just chuckled, raising one hand toward his mouth as he laughed softly. "Hahaha…" He closed his eyes, shoulders shaking with quiet amusement.

Dila blinked at him with a deadpan expression, one eyebrow twitching. "…I thought you already resurfaced to the ground," she muttered.

Zeon's grin only widened as he pushed off the wall slightly. "By risking you while I was gone? No way."

"But you said your on your own," she replied, flat tone sharper now.

Zeon looked off to the side with mock innocence. "Oops. I lied." He shrugged, clearly unbothered, and gave a soft laugh again.

Dila let out a long sigh, her eyes drifting sideways toward the polished metal floor. The vault lights reflected off it like faint starlight.

"…Of course you did," she murmured.

A few moments later..

As they made their way down the long, echoing hallway, the cool scent of metal and faint hum of distant machinery surrounded them. The lights above flickered slightly— even if the tech is maintained like new the circuits still, aged—casting long shadows across the steel walls.

Zeon walked just slightly behind Dila, hands in his pockets, his steps relaxed and deliberate. Then, without warning, he leaned slightly toward her with a teasing smirk curling at his lips.

"So," he drawled, "did you enjoy your stay here in the creepy little lab of secrets?"

Dila didn't even glance at him right away. Her arms stayed crossed, and her tone was flat as ever.

"Meh. Neutral," she replied without emotion. "Almost got in trouble, so… yeah, real five-star experience."

Zeon laughed under his breath, his eyes half-lidded as he tilted his head closer. "Heh. Yeah, sounds like the typical Princess treatment to me." His words were lined with mischief, but his gaze was soft.

Dila narrowed her eyes and turned just enough to look at him directly. Her voice was dry as sand.

"I think the only thing typical here… is your face."

Zeon blinked—just once—then let out a snort. "Ouch. That was cold." But his grin only widened, clearly amused.

Meanwhile, Fran had wandered slightly off to the side, stopping in front of a wide glass barrier. Behind it was another sealed chamber—dimly lit, but this time filled with odd weapon prototypes, half-disassembled, rune golems, and mana-core tanks humming softly with light. The eerie glow reflected in her wide, curious eyes.

She placed both hands against the glass and whispered to herself, completely tuned out from Dila and Zeon's bickering.

"Yeah... this place never gets old," she murmured, her tail slowly swishing behind her, mesmerized.

"It's like a candy shop… but with more explosions."

Her eyes sparkled like a kid in a toy store—utterly enchanted by the glimmering, dangerous beauty of it all.

Back in the hallway, Zeon raised a brow toward Fran. "…She's in her own world again."

Dila sighed. "Let her be. She's harmless until something explodes."

"Heeey!" Fran suddenly called out from the glass, not even turning around. "I heard that!"

Zeon chuckled again, the sound light and easy. "Definitely not boring with you two..." he muttered as they reached the stairwell.

The Minutes has passed....

As they ascended the final step, the moment their feet reached the top landing, the entire staircase behind them shimmered—then vanished without a trace.

The mechanical system beneath let out a soft clank followed by a series of shifting gears and hisses of steam. In just a few seconds, the once-visible staircase retracted and folded seamlessly into the floor. What remained was a smooth, unbroken surface—no hint that an entry had ever existed.

Dila turned around, her blue eyes studying the floor with faint intrigue. Her voice was quiet, thoughtful.

"Hmm... interesting. As usual."

Fran, standing beside her, clasped her hands together in front of her chest with an excited grin. Her cat tail swayed in delight.

"Yeah! It's soo cool, sister!" she chirped, practically bouncing on her toes. "It's like magic and machines had a baby!"

Zeon stood a few steps behind, watching the two with a lopsided smirk. His crimson eyes flicked from the now-invisible staircase to Fran's giddy excitement and Dila's calm curiosity.

He gave a soft chuckle. "I swear... one of you acts like a noble scholar, and the other like a sugar-crazed kitten."

Fran turned her head with a playful pout. "Excuse meee? I'm not sugar-crazed! I'm just... passionately fascinated."*

Dila side-eyed him with her usual deadpan calm. "At least one of us isn't annoying."

Zeon laughed. "You wound me again as usual, Princess."

Fran giggled beside her sister while hugging Dila's arm slightly. "Aww, don't worry mister Zeon. You're slightly less annoying than usual today."

He grinned, arms crossed. "I'll take that as a compliment."

The mechanical hum quieted beneath their feet as the lab entrance sealed itself, leaving nothing but the familiar, polished hallway of the castle above—silent and still, as if the hidden world below had never existed ever.

The sun outside the narrow castle windows had shifted overhead, flooding the long hallway with bright midday light. The ancient stone walls glowed warm, casting golden reflections along the polished floors as the trio walked in step—well, sort of.

A loud grrrrrrrrlp suddenly echoed from the silence.

Then another.

Dila paused mid-step, her stomach rumbling with such intensity it almost vibrated the air around them. She clutched her abdomen with one hand, face wincing.

"Crap... I didn't eat lunch yet..." she muttered, her pace slowing. Her boots scraped a little softer now, each step weaker than the last.

"It's already past midday... like, an hour ago..." she said again under her breath, her voice dry with hunger. Her other hand was slightly trembling, either from nerves—or low glucose. Maybe both.

"Ugh... and this afternoon's fight.... maybe it's gonna be brutal..." she added with a soft sigh, almost in dread. Her eyes narrowed with anxiety, while her fingers curled slightly. She knew it. The big battle was looming.

Beside her, Fran's stomach chimed in with an equally desperate growl.

But unlike her sister, Fran didn't seem to be dying from anxiety. She just stopped, pouted, and slouched forward like a melting popsicle.

"I don't care about fights... I just wanna eaaat," Fran whined, holding her hands on her hips dramatically like she was about to collapse in protest.

Zeon, casually walking beside them with his arms folded behind his head, turned and looked at the two starving elf and catgirl with an amused smirk.

With a grinned face. "Princess," he said, tilting his head toward Dila, "you should eat before your might turns into 'I might not.' You do wanna win, right?"

Dila shot him the nastiest glare she could muster with a half-starved face.

"Cut the crap off your creepy face. Of course I'm gonna eat."

Zeon just laughed, unfazed. His red eyes glinted with that teasing fire.

"Heh, that's more like it. Eat up. And live up to your title—Princess of stubborn Sass and Sarcasm."

Fran, meanwhile, was still walking beside them—half hunched like a zombie. Her ears drooped. Her tail limply swayed behind her like a dying vine.

With a completely blank face, she mumbled out of nowhere, "You know what, Mister Zeon... you really look like a pervert with that grinned look of yours."

She tilted her head sideways, eyes flat, glancing toward him from the corner of her vision like she was studying an animal in a cage.

Zeon blinked, then just grinned wider.

"Don't worry—this is my default look. Creepy and proud. You can call me a perv, a weirdo, a suspicious smiling freak—doesn't matter."

He winked.

"I will never change. Yeah."

Fran let out a low groan, dragging her feet again. "Ughhh. You're so weird..."

Dila sighed, both from hunger and second-hand embarrassment.

"This hallway feels longer because of him, I swear."

And yet, even with their hunger, nerves, and an annoyingly confident Zeon, the three continued forward—toward whatever chaos in past midday had in store.